Molecular epidemiology of Chagas disease in the Gran Chaco Americano: genetic markers for Trypanosoma cruzi typing

DIOSQUE P

La Paz

Workshop; Molecular Epidemiology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases in Latin America; 2012

Institut de recherche pour le développement

The Gran Chaco Americano is an ecoregion that extends over Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, in which the elimination of Triatoma infestans, and consequently the interruption of vectorial transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, has failed. Five of the six main DTUs (Discrete Typing Units) of T. cruzi have been reported in the region, and great genotype diversity has been described in some DTUs. The dynamic of transmission of the different DTUs and genotypes of T. cruzi is very complex, involving in some cases the interaction of wild and domestic cycles. In this framework, the diversity of T. cruzi represents an important epidemiological factor, and consequently the molecular tools for studying this diversity and the capability for identifying the genotypes involved in the different transmission scenarios become relevant. We present results of molecular typing of T. cruzi isolates and clones from the Chaco region in Argentina, obtained from MLST (Multilocus Sequence Typing), MLMT (Multilocus Microsatellite Typing) and SL-IR (Spliced leader intergenic region). We also discuss the utility of these approaches for the molecular epidemiology of Chagas disease in the Gran Chaco Americano.